Page 8 of Static

"Excuse me."

I paused and looked over at the officer.

"I'm sorry, again." He gave me a sheepish look. "I was just joking around about searching your purse."

"It's okay," I told him.

He hesitated, then held out his gloved hand. "I'm David."

"Nice to meet you." I shook it.

"And you are?" he asked with a raised brow.

"Oh, right," I laughed. "Gwen."

"Well, Gwen, it's nice to meet you. I hope you don't think this is too sudden-" I tensed, waiting for what he was going to say. "but I wanted to see if you'd have dinner with me?"

I blinked in shock. That wasn't what I was expecting at all. "Dinner?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow night?"

"Tomorrow." A slow grin spread over his face and my cheeks burned as I realized I was parroting everything he said. "Thank you," I finally stammered, "but I can't." He was cute, but the guys would freak out if I brought home a cop. And I had my kids to think about. And there was the matter of the golden god lawyer I kept dreaming about.

"Okay," he said. He held out a card and I took it from him. "In case you change your mind."

"Cops have business cards now?" I teased.

He shrugged. "Better to be prepared. I'll let you get back to work, Gwen."

I gave him a friendly smile and hurried off to clean up one of the exam rooms that hadn't gotten cleaned after the last client of the night from yesterday. My mind kept straying as I worked, wondering why David had asked me out. I was still young, but I didn't exactly get a lot of dates. Probably had something to do with the fact that I was always at the clubhouse, work, or with my kids.

It didn't matter anyway. I wasn't interested in dating right now. I couldn't afford to choose wrong and bring another man like Trent into our lives. That was the last thing me, or my children needed.

"Hey," Karen said as she walked in the door.

"Hi. How was your weekend?"

"Pretty good. My mom came down and we had dinner together."

"Oh, that's nice." Karen's mom lived in Phoenix and they tried to have a mother daughter date once a month or so. I leaned over and cleaned the exam table surface.

"Who's the cute cop?"

"Huh?" I asked, looking over at her.

She planted her hands on her full hips. "The cute cop who was asking about you at the front desk?"

"He was?"

She gave me a knowing look. "You better get out there before Cheryl gives him your number, your address, your social security-"

I bolted out of the room before she even had the chance to finish. David was walking out the door as I rushed back out into the waiting room area. He had that swagger that all men with a badge and gun seemed to have. I was pretty sure it had something to do with the heavy gun and other things on the belt they wore. Well, and the ego. There was always a massive ego.

"There you are!" Cheryl said, looking excited.

My heart sank. Cheryl and I were friends, but she was ten years older, happily married, and was always trying to set me up with handsome men who came through the clinic.

"That nice young man asked for your number."

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